Demand and Respond
by Rae1
Summary: Rated for violence, language, and as a precaution. Yamaken. Au. Daikeru hints. Four of the boys try to escape reality, and succeed, until Ken is kidnapped by a demon. It's up to his true love to save him.
1. Fan girls are overrated

Demand and Respond

Chapter One :

Fan girls are overrated

Presumptuous, clingy, annoying imbeciles! Why can't I get away from them? Is it too much to ask, to be allowed to sit in peace, and eat my lunch? I knew that fame would have its drawbacks. I didn't realize that I would have to have help just to get away for an hour.

A very short hour. I can see that Tai is just as angry as I am. It was his idea to spirit me away to the museum, thinking that most of the airheads that stalked me, the ones titled 'fans', wouldn't be caught dead in a place of education and stuffiness.

I enjoyed the first part of the tour, until the first groupie spotted me. A group of middle-schoolers are here for a field trip, and just my luck, they're 90% female. Sadly enough, I think it's the teacher that started chasing after us, shadowing us from exhibit to exhibit.

Great! Where's Tai? I snuck into a side corridor, but I don't think he turned with me. If he's lucky, maybe they haven't caught up with him yet.

"Hello, Matt. Having fun?" I jump, startled from my thoughts. A pair of violet eyes meets mine, their depths guarded, with just a hint of amusement.

"Loads. You?" Ken shrugs, inclining his head just a little. His lips are curved ever so slightly, adding a glint in his eyes. "What are you doing here on a school day?"

He's not wearing his school uniform, and I'm thinking that they might not be in session. Come on, why would Ken, boy genius, skip? "Skipping. You?" I know that my jaw is hanging open, but it's a reflex that I haven't learned to control, yet.

Okay, in all fairness, he's not really the prodigy child anymore. He goes to the public high school with Davis and TK. He's the top of his class, but rumor has it that he could barely keep up in his old school. "I don't have class on Fridays." The joys of going to University.

He nods as if that explains it all, and his hair slides down to cover his face. My hair is short and spiky, a new look to go with the new sound that the Wolves have come out with. We've gone from teenage pop stars, to adult rock stars. Ken still has long, silky strands of blue-black follicles. Shoulder-length, and attractive.

I can feel my heart start beating rapidly, my breath fighting to catch in my throat. At this point in time, I wish I could sink into a hole, and not come back out. There's a heat in my cheeks that usually signals a blush. He looks away, over my shoulder, and I watch as his lips curl, white teeth flashing in the fluorescent lighting.

"Your fan club is coming back this way." I look back, and see the dark-haired teacher marching our way. I don't want to be caught, but I don't really, despite the oncoming blush, and the onset of lust, want to walk away from Ken. I don't get to see him that often, and he is eye-candy, almost as addictive as chocolate.

"Want to run away with me?" I am aware of how much of a come-on that is, but he can chose to answer it either way. Pink lips purse, and his left eyebrow comes down just a bit. Okay, he's more addictive than chocolate.

"I think you should find Tai. Then maybe we can meet up." Damn. Oops. Poor Tai. He tries to rescue me, and I end up using him as a decoy, and trying to leave him behind. Some best friend I am.

"Sounds like a plan." I grin, already backing away from the oncoming group. Ken waves at me, then moves to intercept them, letting me get away. As soon as I find another door, I start running, not really caring in what direction. When I reach the entrance foyer, I can see Tai sitting on a bench. His shirt is ripped, and his hair is tousled.

"They got you." I point out the obvious, sitting down on the bench beside him. He rolls his eyes, and shakes his head. Unmentionable torture.

"In front of the mummy. They tackled me, crushed me into the ground, then stood up and went back to find you. I tried to delay them longer, but it took me five minutes to peel myself up from the ground." He sighs, and I can feel the fatigue emanating from him. He was up all last night, trying to write a paper. I doubt that he slept two hours.

His eyes slide shut, and I take a moment to study him, one of my favorite past-times. His skin is tan, evidence of his love of the outdoors. His lashes are long, brushing softly against the skin under his eyes. He has wide, kissable lips.

I lean back against the wall, smiling to myself. Tai was my first crush. He was strong, daring, and honest. It's hard for people not to like him. Going out with Sora when I was fifteen was a bad idea. He ended up turning to Izzy, breaking my heart in the process. It didn't take Sora long to realize that I wasn't interested in our relationship.

"Where did you hide?" He murmurs around a yawn, eyes slitted, but watching me.

"I ran into Ken." That makes him jerk upright. He knows I'm gay, knows that I used to lust after him, and that I'm currently falling in love with Ichijouji. He's my best friend, why not?

"Really?" No, I'm just making it up. I raise an eyebrow, instead of using my sarcasm. If there's one thing that hasn't changed, it's his lack of tolerance for my bad attitudes and mood swings. Izzy's been good for him, but there's only so much the boy can do. "So?"

"So, we might meet for lunch." My smile is smug, I know, but I can't help it. It feels good, just thinking about the violet-haired teen. It feels good in a lot of ways.

"Where?" Uh-oh. I open my mouth, but stop. We never agreed on a place to meet, or a time, or anything. He just sent me off. My euphoria fades quickly, leaving me to slump down. There are days that I wish I had a mind like Ken's, or Izzy's, or Joe's. Mine is outdated, and obsolete. "I can't believe you didn't ask!"

Thanks, Tai. Your support is so wonderful. As if I don't feel dumb enough already. "Hey, guys." I look up, grateful for once to see Davis. Overly excitable, slow on the uptake, and a disaster waiting to happen.

"Davis!" Okay, that was overdone. I didn't have to yell his name out loud. Tone down, Ishida. I try again. "Hey, Motomiya. What's up?" Better. A little distant, a little cool. I can see them both mentally shrugging it off.

"Nothing much. Ken sent me to ask where you wanted to meet. We're skipping together, but he's playing tour guide to that bunch of hippies that keep screaming your name." He doesn't sound like he cares that they might have stripped and beaten him by now. I can feel my ire rise, and force to keep it down. Davis is his best friend, and it wouldn't do to have him against me.

So, Ken may not be gay. That's not the point. I just need to keep all my options open, and my fingers crossed. "I don't know. There aren't that many places nearby, not without running the risk of parents, or faculty from the school."

Tai straightens up beside me, and I can feel an impending sense of doom pervade my body. His grin is too wide, his eyes glowing too much in the dim light. Davis is clueless, looking around to see if Ken has reappeared. "I know of a place."

"No." I shake my head, already disliking whatever place he wants to drag us to. Tai gives me a hurt look, but goes on anyway.

"We can hit a fast-food joint, and then go out to that old haunted house. They have unguided tours, where you can just wander around, and see what you find. I hear that it's free during the day, since business is slow in the daylight." He has Davis' attention. By the excitement and interest in his eyes, I already know that I'll be outnumbered.

"I'd rather get stuck with the groupies." I mutter, as Ken steps into view. He starts toward us quickly, gesturing behind him rapidly. The fan girls are ten feet behind him, sniffing the air. "Or not. Let's go." Davis and Tai look at me, but I'm already on my feet, and moving to the door. I can see one of the museum curators heading off the females.


	2. Freaky people are found in a freaky plac...

Chapter two:

Freaky people are found in a freaky place

Following Tai anywhere is a bad idea, something I should have learned years ago. Maybe it's the whole blonde thing, maybe I'm just living up to my crest. Finding myself in the front seat, Ken behind me, and listening to the effect of a mufferless exhaust system, is enough to drive me out of my skin. My teeth are rattling, and my ears are ringing.

Tai, of course, is grinning madly, enjoying the fact that someone has gone along with one of his plans. Ken didn't argue. I think he was just happy to get away from my fan club. Davis is as eager as Tai. What a surprise.

The trees are whipping by quickly, taking us into the country, and away from the smell of the city. Although, with the condition of the car, all I can smell are fumes anyway. We turn, taking us onto a rocky driveway. It's paved with limestone, instead of the normal gravel. We circle up and around, before stopping at a small building, attached to a large gate.

A man leans out of the door of the gatehouse, his wrinkly skin hanging loosely from his face. The engine is cut out, so as to hear him. "What do you young bloods want?" I'm suppressing the urge to laugh. This old man is very fitting to find right before entering a haunted house. Next come the spooky warning, and our snide laughter.

"We want to tour." Tai's eyes are lit in anticipation, and his left foot is tapping impatiently. "How much for four?"

"We no longer have public tours." He draws back a little, shadowing his body with the doorway. Something clicks, and the gate begins to swing open with a slow, mechanical groan. "Enter at your own risk. Leave me the names and phone numbers of all passengers." 

So he can identify next of kin? Tai scribbles the information down on a scrap of paper, hands it to the old man, and starts the engine again. I look back, and see the door swing shut, the gate gaping open. "Man, that guy was creepy." Thank you, Davis, for pointing out the obvious. 

"Does that mean we don't have a tour guide?" Ken's voice floats up from the backseat, raspy and throaty. His voice cracked at fourteen during puberty, and has been this sexy growl ever since. I could listen to him all day. Someday, I hope to have the opportunity to.

"We'll wander around for a couple of hours, talk to a few ghosts, and then head home." I can barely make out Davis' response. Then nobody talks as the house comes into view.

It's a giant mansion, three stories high, with four towers rising to approximately seven stories above ground. There's no telling how far back it goes. Impressive, in a horror-movie-type way.

"Wow." Thank you, Davis, for the understatement. I see Tai nod in agreement out of the corner of my eye. I look at it, a sweeping glance, and then return to scooping out Ken's reaction in the side view mirror. He's watching the house with troubled violet eyes. I wonder what he sees.

"We're here." Tai cuts the engine again, and jumps out of the car, Davis hot on his heels. I get out more slowly, and push the seat up with a grin at Ken. He smiles back, lips sliding back over his even teeth. 

Breathe, Ishida. His form unfolds next to me, his gaze returning to our destination. "It's like something out of a horror movie, or a gothic novel." Forget the house; let's just jump into the back of the car, him and I. The other two can do what they want. I want Ken.

"Yeah." It's the only thing my throat will squeeze out, but he misses the throaty texture, and turns to Davis. Disappointment clogging my throat, I walk around the front of the vehicle, and wave a hand in front of Tai's face. "Let's go already."

He blinks, his brown eyes meeting mine with a happy glow. Gods, I'd forgotten that he had a weakness for the supernatural. I should have been paying more attention. He's a truly wonderful guy, and he deserves a better friend than I am. "Thanks for coming, Matt. I wouldn't have had the balls to come up here without you."

"No problem, Tai. It'll be an adventure, right?" He laughs softly, eyes scanning over the window and front door. I look back at Davis and Ken, who are now standing on the same side of the car talking. "We're going up, you two." They nod, and follow as Tai and I lead the way. Just like old days, Tai in the lead, but with me beside him, instead of trying to slow him down.

We approach the door, the four of us standing in a bent line. Tai reaches it first, and knocks. We stand in the silence, and wait for a few minutes, before he looks at me sheepishly. Instead of taking the opportunity to tease him, I reach out, and twist the knob, pulling the door open. We stand in front of the black cavernous opening.

"Someone should go first." Davis is eyeing us both wearily; half afraid we'll force him in the lead. He may not be afraid of many things, but I guess ghosts are one of them. "This was your idea, Tai."

"Yeah, but you wanted to come as much as I did." My best friend points out, raising his eyebrow in superiority.

A velvety voice breaks through their standoff, gaining our attention. "We came to help hide out Matt. I think he should go first." I gape at Ken, watching as his amethyst irises connect with mine, their depths unreadable.

"Thanks, Ken." I growl at him, despite the pounding of my heart, and turn to stalk inside. They trail behind me, unbolstered by the confidence in my step. "Here we are boys, inside the lion's den."

"Actually, the man that bought the house from the monks descended from the Moondragon's, a rich and wealthy family of the late 16th century." The four of us swing toward the newcomer, a young lady of perhaps twenty years of age. She looks at us with green eyes, her black hair coiled tightly. "Welcome, visitors, to the Dragon's Lair."

I swallow and look at Tai, who is staring at her with a mixture of confusion, and recognition, as if he knows he knows her, but can't place how. He seems to be of little help. I step forward, assuming the role of spokesperson. "Hi. I'm Matt. This is Tai, Ken, and Davis. We came to tour the haunted house."

Her lips curve into a smile, her eyes flashing briefly with some unknown emotion. "Really. We don't give public tours. However, since you're here, I'm assuming Gus let you pass at the gate." Tai nods numbly, and I can feel myself becoming increasingly uneasy as each moment passes. I wander if the others can feel the strange currents running around the room. 

"He said the same thing, but that we could come up here, anyway." I glance at Davis, and see the same stunned look on his face.

"There isn't a guide, but you can wander around on your own. I'll give you a brief history, and then let you go on your own." She pauses, and waits for me to nod. "In centuries past, there were two people in love. Theirs was a good match, in wealth, title, and position. Nothing stood in their way.

"For their vows, they each wrote a poem, and called them 'Demand' and 'Respond'. She, being a strong female of her time, read hers first, and gave him her requests. The list was rather long, but he was confident through the whole thing. When she was done, their audience clapped, and then waited for his response.

"Before he could recite his poem, however, a terrible thing happened. A demon came, the messenger of a moody, and malevolent god, and kidnapped her, saying that to regain his bride, the man would have to live up to his vows. The demon and the girl vanished, leaving the groom behind. Not only would he have to learn courage to save her, but strength, as well."

She pauses, and looks at me, and then at Ken, who is standing several feet behind me. Tai and Davis look foggy, as if half-asleep. "What happened?" Ken asks behind me.

Her smile dims, grows sad. "He failed. When it came down to it, she asked for too much, and he offered too little. He couldn't hold to his promises, and now they both haunt this house, waiting for a time when they can earn another chance."

"That's sad." I can feel a hint of the pain they each must have felt. "Maybe his love wasn't as strong as he thought." 

Sharp, green eyes sear me. "Really? What do you mean?" Her voice is questioning, but not unfriendly.

"I mean, he promised her so much, but when it came down to it, he didn't have enough love to gather the courage to do what he had said he would. If love is strong, it can overcome anything, even death."

Her smile flitted back on, her gaze showing what looked like relief. "That's a very good point. However, if a heart holds even the smallest amount of doubt, it isn't strong enough. Love is limitless. Forgiving, comforting, unforgettable."

"I have a question." She and I turn to Ken. His face is impassive. "What happens if they never get another chance?" I nod, feeling that niggling feeling run down my spine again. She's watching us both carefully, her smile small and gentle.

"Then they are stuck in this house for eternity, or until they tear it down." She claps her hands, and grins at us. "That's the story. You four have fun. I'm going to be around, so don't be surprised if you run into me again. The floors are sturdy, the roof won't fall in, so don't worry about anything, but having a good time."

She twirls away, and walks briskly down a hallway. "That was interesting." I look at Tai, glad to see him looking alert and himself again. "This way." He starts away, leaving us to follow. I want to talk, to ask them what they all thought of it. Ken is silent.

Something just feels off. Not necessarily wrong, just not right.


	3. Spooky people aren't the only ones who i...

Chapter three :

Spooky people aren't the only ones who inhabit haunted houses

It's been half an hour, and I'm already tired of Tai and Davis. At every intersection, they argue over which way to go, which door to open first, who gets to open it, and so on. The first couple of times, I let it go. After twenty minutes of nonstop nitpicking, I'm ready to beat them both over the head.

A hand taps my shoulder gently, and I have to bite my lip to keep from screaming. Ken looks at me with a look of gentle understanding and apology. "Want to leave these two behind? If the place is haunted, the ghost will go after them, first, for disturbing their rest." He smiles, taking the sting out of his barb.

I look at my best friend, and his young protégé, and grin. They won't miss us, and Tai will understand my reasons for wandering off with Ken. "Sure." We've covered a hallway leading into the back of the house, and are standing at the base of a stairwell. With a last glance at our companions, Ken and I start upstairs, leaving them to explore the ground floor without us.

Halfway up, I hear Davis asking Tai where we went. "Don't worry, Davis. Matt will take good care of Ichijouji." I know the smile in his voice, and fight back a chuckle in response. It's great to have a friend so understanding.

The raven-haired teen in question is at the top of the stairs, waiting for me patiently. "Knowing Davis, that comment probably isn't sitting well, though he won't argue with Tai." Ken's smiling at me with tenderness, but a sinking feeling in my stomach tells me that it's not for me.

"Why would it bother him?" I smile back, hiding behind my patented expression of cool friendliness. Ken shrugs.

"He knows that before we started dating, I had a crush on you. Normally, he's okay with us hanging out, but occasionally, he worries that my feelings remain, or have even gotten stronger. Of course, I keep telling him that I love him, and only him, but he doesn't listen." He says it calmly, as if expecting me to know of his relationship with Motomiya.

He turns away, and I take the time to drop my facade, looking at him with eyes that show a heart bleeding for the second time. I think I'll hide up in the mountains, so that I never have to hope again, and I never have to be disappointed again.

A door on the left stands ajar, and he crosses to it, and pushes it the rest of the way open. I follow slowly behind, trying to gain control of my anger and self-pity. He's already inside, standing in the middle of a bedroom. 

It's a sparse room, with a rickety cot-bed, no curtains, and a desk and chair in the corner. When the woman downstairs said that the owner had bought it from monks, she was serious. This room looks like a holy man still lived there. "I guess the previous owner didn't believe in redecorating."

He turns to laugh with me, his hair swinging, catching the light through the window. It shines, glowing in the shadowy room. I walk in, moving to the desk so that my back is to him, and I can't stare at his happy face. On the surface lies a single piece of paper, a short message etched on small, rectangular page.

      "_Long for me, yearn for me_

_      Offer me your heart_

_      Cry for me, live for me_

_      And we'll call it a start._"

"What's that?" Ken comes up behind me, and looks at the paper I've picked up.

"It looks like a poem. I wonder if this is it, or if there's more. It's kind of neat." I pass it to him, moving away to put more space between us. Before, I would have drawn out the experience as long as possible. Now it just doesn't feel right.

He shrugs, and hands it back to me before I'm out of reach. "I guess we can look as we go." His smile is gone, and I know that he feels something is wrong with me. "Matt?" Great, now he's going to prove me right. "You don't have a problem with the fact that I'm gay, do you?"

Huh?

"I mean, I thought you knew about Davis and I, and you know about Tai and Izzy, right?" I don't know if that's ironic, or just sad. The guy I've been lusting after is afraid of me being homophobic.

"Man, no. I don't have a problem with any of that. There's just something really weird about this place." That said, I could swear that truer words were never spoken. It suddenly feels chilly, as if someone cracked a window, or turned on the air conditioning. "Let's get out of here."

He nods, and I wait for him to get to the door before passing through. Scary movies like to show doors shutting between to intended victims, effectively shutting them off from each other. I don't want to be alone in this freaky house, so I'm right behind him.

I wish Tai were here. I need his support. Whether I knew it or not, he plays a big part in my esteem and confidence. I need a break from being alone with Ken. "Let's go back down, and find the other two."

"Don't you want to look for more of that poem?" He looks at me as if confused by my sudden cowardice. This is where he offers to stay up here, while I go back. "Why don't you go find them, and I'll tour around up here?" His grin is calm and reassuring.

"Why don't you come with me, and then we can all come back up here together?" I'm starting to feel frightened, and it's affecting my tone and body language. I don't like being scared, even if I've walked into a real-life horror story.

"What's the matter, Matt?" Now he's concerned. I'm starting to wonder if he's playing a trick, or maybe possessed, but he almost sounds mocking. "Let's try one more room, then we can go back. What could be wrong with that?"

Lots, and lots of things. I don't want to, I really don't. Something is definitely screwy, and he's adding to my paranoia. "To be truthful, I'm more than a little worried about your attitude, and I'd like to find the others."

He looks away for a second, as if exasperated, then smiles at me. "Fine. We'll go downstairs. If you can catch me." With that, he starts running away, quickly reaching the end of the hall, and turning the corner before I can stop him, or give chase.

"Shit!" I start running, pumping my legs as quickly as I can. I round the corner, expecting to see him fly around another curve, or duck into a room. Even a door closing would give me a hint of where he is. 

No such luck. The hall is not only empty, but it's a dead-end with no doors, just a little cubbyhole that was probably used to stash a dresser, or closet in. I face a blank wall, with no telltale grooves or niches. 

"Ken?" He can't have disappeared. It's not possible, possession and kidnapping aside. Even if the house is haunted, why would they take Ken? Have they taken the other two?

I turn back, my breathing accelerated, due more to fear than exertion. As quickly as I can, I run back the way we came up, taking the stairs quickly, and jumping over the last three. I whip around the corner of the stairwell, and spot Tai and Davis coming out of a room.

"Tai!" I run to him quickly, grabbing his shoulders and trying to swallow so that I can tell him what happened.

"Hey, Matt. Let me guess: Ken's being held hostage by a ghost?" His grin his teasing me, his brown eyes flashing with humor that quickly fades as he searches my face. "What happened?"

Davis is catching on by now, and is standing next to his idol, waiting for me to speak. I breathe deeply, and realize for the first time that I'm crying. "Ken's gone!" As the full magnitude of that hits, I sink to the floor, sobbing. "He just walked off, and disappeared. When I went to follow him, I found a wall. There was nowhere else he could go."

My best friend kneels beside me, pulling my crumpled form into his arms. His warmth and presence surround me, but I only cry harder, realizing that if Ken knew what was going on, he was probably scared witless.

"Where's Ken?" Davis is standing over us, and I can feel his agitation and fear. "Where were you guys at? Come on, Matt! Pull it together, and let's find him!"

I nod, knowing he's right. Tai helps me up, and I pull away. They follow me back to the stairs, and down the hallway. We stand in front of the wall, their hands searching over the wood much as mine had done a few minutes before. "I watched him turn this corner, and followed, but this is what I found. Now, tell me where he went." 

My eyes are puffy, and an occasional tear still slips down my cheek, but I think I'm pretty well composed. "What happened before he started running?" Tai settles his hand on my shoulder as he waits for my reply. Davis is still touching the wall, disbelieving that his boyfriend could just vanish.

"We were in the room at the top of the stairs, and we found a poem, or part of one." I take it out of my pocket, and hold it out to him, but Davis grabs it from my hand before he can take it. "Then I started feeling really funny, so we came back into the hallway. I suggested finding you guys, and that's when he started acting funny. He made a sarcastic jibe about my being afraid, and then said we could look for you guys, if I could catch him."

"And did you?" We all jump, and Tai's grip tightens on my shoulder as we turn to face the woman from before. "Did you manage to catch him?" Green eyes look at us with a knowledgeable gleam.

"No." I glare at her. Davis moves to stand closer to my side, the three of us forming a line against the most likely suspect. "Where's Ken?"

"This whole place is full of riddles. The answers are a little more obvious than some might think, but they're there if you look in the right place." She glances at Davis. "For a boyfriend, you seem less concerned than your friend."

He looks at us guiltily, then at the woman. "That's because we weren't really dating. It was an act we were going to put on to make the person I'm in love with realize exactly what he's missing. Ken was playing along for my sake."

I look at him, shocked, hurt. If that's the truth, why had Ken told me? Does he know I like him, and want an easy way to spurn my unwanted affections? And why the hell is Davis being so honest with a complete stranger? "Who are you?"

She smiles at my question. "I'm the current owner, Lisa Pendragon. The man at the gate is Phinneas Moondragon. My parents bought him out years ago, and let him stay on as gatekeeper, as long as he didn't interfere with the tours."

"Why did you stop giving tours?" Tai looks skeptical, and I don't blame him. They don't give tours, yet they let us wander around. Ken disappears, and she acts as if nothing happened. "And why did you let us in?"

Her smile widens. "Inquisitive, aren't we? I stopped giving tours because the demon was acting up again, and I let you in because Phin let you past the gate. I generally go along with Phin, since he's lasted here ninety years, and my parents only made it ten. We moved, and I've only recently returned."

"Do you know where Ken is?" Davis' voice is worried, and his eyes look almost as concerned as I feel. Lisa simply looks at him with gently eyes.

"No, unfortunately. This place is cursed, which is why my parents left. The demon has been lying in wait since he kidnapped the bride, Cara Moondragon. Her groom, Martin Pendragon, my ancestor, is said to roam the halls in search of a way to save her."

"Are they the ghosts that are supposed to haunt this place?" Tai asks.

She shakes her head, hair held securely in place. "About a hundred years ago, a rich Comtesse from some obscure country came here with a group of poets, having heard about the vows in poem-form. They came here, and held a séance. It's never been determined, but it's said that the demon grew angry because of all the noise, and killed them. It's their ghosts that wander the halls and greet visitors."

"Why haven't we seen any of them?" Come on, Davis, let's get back on task! Who cares about a bunch of poets? Ask about Ken.

"Because the demon is active again, and they're hiding to escape his wrath. It's said that if you ask for help the right way, they'll answer. There were like six or seven of them, plus the Comtesse Danaria. No one has ever seen her ghost, though."

I am tired of all this nonsense. Forget about poets who are too scared to come out. "Do you know where we can look for Ken?" My voice is abrupt, but I don't care. Even if neither of the other two notices, this is getting us nowhere.

Her smile fades into a pitying frown. "I'm sorry. I only know the legends. I live in town, and only come out in the day to work on a story I'm writing. This place is a great atmosphere for a horror novel. I would suggest trying to get one of the ghost to come out."

With a sad look, she turns and walks away, her pace unhurried, and her feet silent on the hardwood floor. "We have to think of something." Davis looks at me accusingly, and I glare back. It's not my fault that something got a hold on Ken. It's not like I wanted to come here.

I open my mouth, prepared to say that exact thing, when I catch the look of guilt on Tai's face. He's thinking the same thing I am, but blaming himself. My jaw snaps shut.


	4. Admittance is important

Chapter four:

Admittance is important

The nearest room is the one at the end of the hall. The door faces toward the stairwell, it's knob a rusted brass globe set in the unadorned oak wood. Davis goes first, determined to find his best friend and 'boyfriend'. Tai follows him, moving with the same enthusiasm. He's sure that we'll find the young genius someplace, hiding under a bed, or behind a door. They don't seem to want to accept what's happening.

This room is furnished, unlike the one Ken and I visited. A large canopy bed fits squarely against the outside wall, a window on each side. A desk is set up opposite of it, and I search its surface for another poem. It's bare, the top hidden beneath years of dust. 

I turn away, and something crumples under my foot. I step back, and lean down. On the floor is a small square of paper, and I pick it up. In bold letters, another poem stares up at me, this one different than the one I already found.

      _"Love is strong,_

_      Love is weak,_

_      Love its other half will seek."_

A sound like ripping fabric fills the room, and the door slams shut. Davis and Tai jump and look at it, then at me guiltily holding the paper in my hand. Davis opens his mouth to speak, but is cut off by another voice.

"_Love will smile/love will frown/love will tear the barrier down_." Out of the wall to my right steps a tall, lithe figure, dressed in antique clothing, his hair covered by an old-fashioned wig. "I see you found my poem. It's lovely, isn't it?" He smiles at me warmly, as if he appeared before the living all the time, and received intelligent replies.

Tai and Davis are eyeing him warily, but neither come to face him with me. I swallow, then smile slightly. "It's neat?" Yes, I am a coward. Forget what happened in the Digital World. The thought of facing the unliving scares me.

The ghost only smiles broader. "Thank you! It's been so long since anyone has read my work. It's horribly unappreciated, you understand." He looks down at it, still held in my hands. "Of course, I'm having trouble with the third verse. Love is happy/love is mad...And that's all the farther I got. I can't think of anything fitting to follow mad."

He sighs in frustration, the turns to my friends. He waves, and they both wave back numbly. I roll my eyes, realizing that, despite their excitement in the unknown, neither knew how to act when facing a real ghost. It's comical, but annoying at the same time.

"Excuse me?" He turns back to me, tilting his head to one side. "Do you know what happened to our friend?" His smile fades, replaced by a hollow frown. "We really need to find him."

"Really?" I nod, and he sighs again, this time sadly. "And you were so nice, too. The demon has him. It's part of the agreement. If you want him back, you'll have to find him."

"How do we do that?" I look at him eagerly, feeling hope blossoming in my chest. Even if it is Takeru's crest, I have a right to the emotion.

"I'm not certain, really. I think the Comtesse knows, but I'm not certain where, or how, to find her. I can't leave this room, you see. There's another poet, but he's gloomy, and hard to get along with. He visits the east tower a lot."

"Thank you." I gesture to Tai and Davis, and they both go to the door. It opens easily, and I start to follow, but stop on the threshold. "_Love is happy/love is mad/love cries when love is sad_."

The ghost smiles at me, tears forming in his eyes. "Good luck! Thank you!" The door swings shut as I step back into the hallway. It put the poem in my back pocket, separate from the first.

"Let's go." Davis heads to the stairs, and starts down, stopping halfway to the bottom. "Which way's east?"

Tai looks at me, and smiles slightly. I nod at him in understanding, and he passes Davis on the stairs. "I'll lead." We move down the stairs and along one hall in single file order, Tai in the lead, with Davis between us, coldly ignoring my presence. If I were to disappear right now, he wouldn't care. 

It takes us several minutes to get into what Tai says is the east tower. The metal stairs wind up in a spiral fashion, reaching a dizzying height. Another weakness. I'm scared of ghosts, and heights. My best friend, of course, begins to climb, oblivious of the fact that I'm seriously fighting not to hyperventilate. 

I'd really like to know when I became such a coward. When I realized that I wanted to live? I used to be suicidal, but I've discovered that being alive, having friends, and being in love are great depression killers. Instead of quivering at the bottom, as I'd like to, I follow both holders of courage up the tower stairs, my chin held high to avoid looking down. 

At the top, Tai tries vainly to open the door. It doesn't budge, or even rattle a little, holding firm even when Davis adds his strength. They give up, and look around for something to pry it open with, or maybe a key. I look around, my eyes inadvertently peering over the edge. 

I close my eyes quickly, hoping that my stomach will return before I throw up. Tai taps my arm, and I turn to face him, my breathing ragged. "Are you okay, Matt?" I nod, and look over the abyss at the wall across from us. In a little niche, I can see a piece of paper sticking out of it, as if stuck there on purpose.

"Look at that." I point to it, and they both join me at the railing. "I wonder if it's another poem?" In answer, Tai leans over, trying to grasp it. The tower's only six feet in diameter, but he can't quite get to it.

Davis looks at me seriously, animosity shoved back. "You're the tallest. If anyone can reach it, it would be you. It could be another key. Maybe this ghost won't come out unless his poem is read, too." Tai nods, and I can see that he agrees with Davis' reasoning. 

"Okay." I take a deep breath, and sit on the railing, using my feet around the poles to keep my balance. With a silent prayer, I lean back, reaching my hand above my head. Something groans, like a bolt or nail being strained, causing me to slip a little.

Tai grabs my shirt, and pulls me back onto the stairs, his face as pale as mine must look. With a triumphant look, I hold the paper up in two fingers. They both smile, glad that I managed to get it. They both wait, until I unfold the square, and read the passage silently.

      "_To correct a mistake_

_      I shouldn't have made_

_      And solve a puzzle_

_      Time cannot fade._

_      Seeking a solution_

_      To a problem unsolved, _

_      And finding an answer_

_      To a challenge called_."

"Damn people. Can't stop bothering the dead." Black eyes seemed to float in front of me, and we all gasp in shock. A second later, a man in black clothing stands before us, his eyes glaring at us. "What do you want?"

"We want Ken." Davis answers, less impressed by this rude specter than the first one.

"And Ken would be?" He smirks, his eyes swinging to the redhead momentarily before meeting my eyes.

"He's our friend, the one that was taken by the demon." He blinks at that, and walks through me. In the air that I had hung over, he walked as if on a solid floor, his hand scratching his chin thoughtfully. "We came to ask you if you knew where the Comtesse is."

He looks at me, then at Tai and Davis. "She's in the northern tower. If you go through the door, and down the hall, you should find her easily. You'll need this." He holds out is hand, a piece of paper and a flat, metal disk in the palm.

I take both of them gratefully. "Thank you." He shrugs, and rolls his eyes. A squeak behind us sounds the opening of the tower door, and he waves his hand at us to leave.

"Anything to get you out of my tower." I smile, chuckling slightly. Tai and Davis are waiting for me in the hall, the ghost glaring at me coldly. He looks at my friends, then at me, and winks. "Be careful."

"We will. Thank you." The door slams shut this time, leaving us standing in the hall. "Well, he was pleasant." Two pairs of brown eyes give me a disbelieving look. "Let's go."

I lead the way this time, deciding that I've earned it. Leaning out over six flights of stairs, talking to two ghosts. Losing Ken. 

I told Tai that I thought I was falling in love with him. Ken, that is, not Tai. I told him that because I wanted him to know that I felt something for him, but I didn't want him knowing that I thought that I was in love with him. Ken's had my heart for a very long time, something that I don't want to think about, since I can't guarantee that I'll ever see him again.


	5. Another ghost, anothe riddle

Chapter Five :

Another ghost, another riddle

So, we have to look for the Comtesse Danaria, and see if she can help us. Sure, that sounds simple enough, but how in the world do you contact the ghost of nobility, when you don't know the etiquette? 

For some odd reason, the poem in my pocket is driving me nuts, as if I missed something because I haven't read it. I take it out, curious, and unfold it. In dark, bold print, the words stare up at me.

      "_Walk for me, run for me,_

_      Travel however you can._

_      Come for me, follow me,_

_      My soul's in demand_."

"What's that?" Davis and Tai are looking over my shoulder. I shrug, and hold it out to the redhead first. He looks it over, then passes it to Tai. When it makes it back into my hands, they're both looking at me in confusion. 

"It's the paper I just got, back there." I take out the first one, and compare the two. The same handwriting, the same style of rhythm and rhyming. "It's another piece of the one Ken and I found." Davis looks up at me oddly, and I realize that I spoke his name softly, gently. I look away, unable to meet the suspicion in his dark eyes.

Yes, Davis, I love your boyfriend. Deal with it. "We need to keep going." Tai taps my shoulder gently, and I look at him. His eyes are sympathetic, but determined to go on.

"You're right." I put the paper away, next to the metal disk, and start along the hallway again. I'm curious, really. How is another dead woman supposed to help us find Ken? What could she know that the other two didn't? Our footsteps echo on the bare, wooden floor.

After several minutes, we come across a thick door, much like the one to the other tower. I look at Tai and Davis, who shrug helplessly, then tug on the door handle. It opens smoothly, revealing the dark recesses of an unlit tower. Not only am I expected to go onto a ledge sixty feet from the ground, but now I'm expected to do it in the dark. Like this wasn't hard enough before.

We step into the tower, aware that the stairs could be anywhere. I search quickly for the handrail, and grip it tightly. The doorway looks like some mystical gate, leading back into the sane world. Something clicks, and a small flames shoots up to my left. Tai's holding a cigarette lighter aloft, it's small light illuminating the immediate vicinity. 

"Look." Davis is pointing at the wall opposite us, and I turn, expecting to see another crack with a poem in it. Instead, the entire wall is taken up with writing, spreading across in thinly scrawled letters. "You read it, Matt."

      "_What happens, _

_      When you give up gold:_

_      Making the chance_

_      To never grow old?_

_      "Would it cause a problem_

_      To refuse to die;_

_      Or teaching an animal_

_      Without wings to fly_?"

"That's pretty." Davis gazes at the words, as if mesmerized. "I wonder who wrote that."

"I did." He looks back at the door, and we see a woman standing there, a gown draped over her figure like a nineteenth century queen. "It was the last thing I wrote. I'm glad that you like it."

"Comtesse Danaria." I bow slightly. It's the only thing I can remember hearing about royal courts. Everyone bows in respect, much like they do in Japan. I see a smile spread across her lightly tanned features, her blue eyes crinkling in mirth.

"Thank you, kind sir." Her blonde hair is swept upon her head, ringlets hanging down. She's a contrast to the dark Ms. Pendragon, and it's hard to remember that she's a ghost. "How may I help you three?"

We look at each other, uncertain where to start. We want Ken. We need to save him. We don't know how. Why was he taken, and how do we get him back? Is he still okay? Or has something really bad happened to him? She looks at Tai, then at me.

"Why do you want him back?" Um, well...he's Ken? She shakes her head gently, as if trying to garner the patience to deal with a child. "What reason do you have to go forward? Why is he important to you? What do you gain?"

I look at Davis, and say the first thing that pops into my head. "He's our friend, and Davis' boyfriend. It wouldn't be right for any of us to leave him." I can see Tai turn to stare at Davis, who is staring at me in turn. I shrug sheepishly, and admit that he had told me. "He thought I knew."

The Comtesse is watching this all, very interested. She turns to Davis. "For this boy, what would you do? You would fight?" Davis nods. "You would risk your life?" He nods again. "But, he is still only your friend. Nothing more, unlike the blonde here would like to think, despite what your Ken said himself. You are only friends." He nods again, looking at me guiltily.

"I was hoping to make TK jealous." I look at him, his dark eyes embarrassed. Probably because he just admitted to liking my little brother. What else could get screwed up. The guy I like lied about dating another guy, one that wants to go out with my brother, who thinks it would be great if Ken and I got together. Yeah. Right.

"For love you would do many things. But you cannot beat the demon's game, simply because this Ken is only a friend. One who loves him must save him, and you are not the one. I'm sorry, but until true love comes calling, I cannot help you." She starts to fade away, growing transparent as she crosses back across the threshold into the hallway.

Tai looks at me, and nudges my arm. I look at him helplessly for a moment, then hear Davis call out. "Wait! If someone here loves him, and I mean really loves him." He glares at me pointedly. "Then you can help, right? That doesn't necessarily mean that a person would have to admit to it, right? And even if neither of us truly care for him like that, you can tell us. If we screw up, or fail, it won't be your fault. Just pass the message on to us. If we fail, then it's our fault, right?" He's looking at her eagerly, his dark eyes pleading, his hands gripped together in front of him.

She floats forward again, her dress skimming the floor without disturbing the dust. With narrowed eyes, she glances over each of us, and finally settles on Davis. "That would be okay, I think. Be warned. Only one whose love is strong for this boy will win. If there is a doubt in the heart, failure is imminent."

"How, then?" I look at her, cold blue against calculating. She smiles slightly, her eyes crinkling in the corner. In her eyes, I can see the knowledge that I haven't admitted vocally. She knows how I feel, but doubts my strength. I remember what I said to Lisa when we first arrived, about her ancestor's love not being strong enough. 

"By fulfilling the promise that Martin failed to complete_. A vow for a vow/a lifetime of love/Forsaken in trial/but protected above_. When the demon kidnapped the bride, an angel came, and offered a way out should the groom fail. Centuries away from the life that they knew, another couple would be chosen to correct their mistakes. She asked for more than he was strong enough to handle. But he offered more than she thought he could give. They failed each other, despite what the legend says."

"So, she asked for a lot, and when she realized that he would actually have to live up to his vows, lost faith in him?" Tai's frowning at her, and I'm glad that I'm not the one that asked. She looks at him, her eyes a mirror to the sadness in Lisa's.

"Love is only as strong as the people who give and receive it. If they are weak, the bond they share will break. Only those who have faith can save each other."

"There really is no guarantee that the person who loves Ken will be able to win this, is there? It's really only a chance, that they could succeed, isn't it?" I want her to deny it, but the look in her eyes has become sad again, and we both know I spoke the truth. "They'd not only be taking the chance that they loved him enough, but that he loved them, as well." She nods, and I look at Tai.

He shakes his head, and looks away. I don't risk a glance at Davis. It's bad enough that I'm going to fail. I don't need to see the doom in his eyes as well. I look back at the Comtesse, and see Lisa behind her. 

"What do I have to do?"


	6. Going alone

Chapter six:

Going alone

I'm mentally unstable. That has to be the only reason that I'm following a ghost to the very top of the tower by climbing up a rope that's been there for an unknown amount of time. I'm assuming it's still there from when Martin tried to rescue his bride. That's a really long time, considering that Danaria and the poets have been here for a hundred years.

"It's up to you. From here on out, there are no ghost, no allies. No-one can help you after this point." Lisa stands at the base of the rope with Tai and Davis. Neither of them argued when I stepped forward and volunteered. I half-hoped that Davis would say that it wouldn't work, because Ken could never love me. I wanted to hug him for keeping his silence, and giving me hope.

Of course, I did nothing. In typical Yamato Ishida fashion, I looked coldly at the rope, and said "Let's go." They didn't want to stay behind, but neither did they want to argue with the only two people that could help us. Lisa had volunteered to lead them to the kitchen to wait. According to Danaria, I had to go on alone.

At the top of the tower, we stand on the tiled roof, facing across the expanse to the southern tower. The wind whips around us, blowing my bangs into my eyes, and out again. She stands unaffected, her dress lying in seamless lines. "How much do you know about death, Matt?" 

I shrug. "It's death. Bang, it's over, there is no more?" She smiles slightly, and arches a brow at me. "Okay, so it's not the final destination. Is that one of the challenges I have to face?" I look over the edge of the roof, to the ground nearly seventy feet below me. Whoever built the towers obviously had a strong stomach. I'm feeling quesy from the thought of the height, and my stomach is revolting.

"My poem, like all the poems you've heard, have a meaning. The bride's poem, 'Demand'. 'Respond'. They all mean something, and they all go together, sharing in the meaning. You need to decide exactly how much you care about your friend. If you don't believe in yourself, then neither will he."

"Does he know what's going on?" She smiles that sad wisp of a smile, and looks away, across the expanse that separates me from Ken. "What's wrong?" There's a sudden stillness in the air, as if nature itself is waiting.

"There's something dark in him, something that has lain dormant for many years." Shit. That sounds way too damn ominous for me. It's one thing to save Ken, the guy that I'm in love with. It's quite another to save the damn Kaiser, and bring him back to the world where he can do large quantities of damage all over again. "Are you willing to save him, no matter the consequences?"

I look at her before closing my eyes. In the back of my mind is a picture of the Kaiser, his hair spiked up, his cape fluttering in the wind. The image is replaced by a smiling Ken, his eyes gentle, his shoulders squared in preparation for the fight with Malomyotismon and Owikawa. I blink, lifting my eyelids to stare into her eyes. "I'll save him from himself, if I have to."

My Ken, appearance and attitude aside, is not a cold-blooded tyrant, nor is he the shy, timid boy he was after returning to our side. He's a combination of both, with the backbone and kindness of both. He's Ken. She smiles, then looks back down the hatch to wave at my friends and Lisa. "Then here is a hard part, and it's only the first part of your challenge."

"Just point me in the direction I have to go." She points at the southern tower, at the other end of the house, over a hundred yards away on a very slanted roof. The drop to the roof of the house is approximately fifteen to twenty feet, five meters. And should I lose my footing, or slip, it's another fifty feet to the ground. Not a very pleasant thought. I can just picture myself impaled against some tree limb. "Are you sure that you're on my side?"

"Are you sure that you can handle this?" For the first time, she looks snidely at me, twisting features to show disappointment and disgust. "Just go back down the rope, Matt. If you can't start the journey, how do you expect to finish it?"

"This is a cinch." To prove my point, I go to the edge, and sit down, dangling my legs over the side. My show is full of bravado that I'm far from feeling. I flip over to my stomach, and shimmy backwards, feeling my knees, and then my ligs lose their support. They hit against the side of the tower, but I keep sliding, feeling my shirt slide up, and the rough shingles rub against my skin.

I stop when only my upper arms keep me up, and glance at the Comtesse. She's smiling happily. "Good luck, Matt. From all of us. When you succeed, we'll all be free, so thank you. I may not get the opportunity to say that again later."

She disappears, and I assume that she's gone to tell Tai and Davis that I've begun. Something warm is trickling down my raw torso, and it's safe to assume that it's blood. There's a soreness that increases as I lower myself farther, until I'm only hanging on by my hands, which are starting to hurt themselves. 

      Would it cause a problem 

      to refuse to die; 

      or teaching an animal without wings to fly. 

I let go, feeling the wind rush up to meet me before my feet hit the roof, and the impact sends me crashing down the side in a sick series of revolutions. In the second before I tumble over the side, my hands grip the edge instinctively, and I swing madly against the side of the house. My breathing is ragid, and my hands I can see the blood slowly leaking from between my palms and the tiles of roofing.

In the corner of my mind comes a thought, previously unknown, and I can hear myself speak between gasps.

      "I would laugh for love,

      Cry for love,

      Jump off the edge and fly for love."

I may not have flown too well, but I can proudly say that I didn't fail the first test. The only problem now is to figure out how to pull myself back up while ignoring the pain. If I lack the strength, then I fall. There will be nobody to help pull me back up.

I think back over my life, and try to remember the last thing that I knew I absolutely had to do. And the only answer that comes is: saving the world. That was my big thing in life, the way my friends will always remember me. "Yeah, I remember Matt, he helped us save the world when we were kids." 

Hell no, not in this life time. I reach up, digging my fingers and nails into the wooden shingles, slowly lifting my body up, until I can hook my elbows, and lever myself onto the roof. When I die, and leave my friends behind, they are going to remember me as the man who risked everything for love. What cause could be more noble than that?

My stomach just slid over the edge, and I think I can probably swing my legs up. I do so, using the momentum to roll up the slope a little, grabbing onto a wood tile to keep from rolling back the other way. I push myself to my knees, careful to stay low so that the wind doesn't try to knock me down. I move forward slowly, eyeing the top of the roof. It's not that far away, I know I can make it. Fifteen feet...then ten. At the top of the roof is a flat spot that leads to the other end of the house. From there, I can slide down to the wall of the other tower.

I keep going, moving carefully. I've seen the movies where the hero slips on a loose shingle, and slips backwards. I don't think I have the strength to pull myself back up again. I really should have listened to Tai last year, when he told me that gym class wouldn't kill me. How right he was!

I reach the top, and flip onto my back, breathing heavily, my heart racing out of control. I look back down the side, and stare at the shingles I displaced during my climb. Almost all the shingles have been shifted, and some are even missing, showing the bare wood of the roof in the gaps I left behind. I made it, and that's only the first test.

My hand touches my stomach gently, and I lift my head to peer at the scratches and cuts embedded in my pale skin. There are angry, bloody lines criss-crossing on my abdomen.

An image of Ken flashes in my mind, and I flip to my stomach, carefully pushing myself to my feet. My legs tremble, and my hands are shaking. I ignore my body's reaction and start carefully toward the other end of the house, taking small steps and stretching my arms out to help maintain my balance.

The tower draws closer, until I come to the end of the flat part of the roof. It slopes steeply downward again, and my knees give out, causing me to sit heavily on the wood. From here, I can see the top of the tower, but I wouldn't be able to reach it. There's a window, something neither of the other two had. Inside is darkness, mocking me and my quest.

"It's not fair!" I yell at the world at large, indignation and frustration beating through me. "How am I supposed to climb the tower when there is no princess with long hair?"

I have some stupid lines of poetry that are totally worthless at the moment, and a flat little disk...the disk! Of course. The grumpy ghost in tower one said that I would need it! I take it out, holding it in the palm of my hand. 

"Okay, I have the disk, now how am I supposed to use this stupid thing?" If neither Lisa, nor Danaria can join me, then who is going to tell me what I have to do? I haven't a clue. So far, I've lucked out to get this far. From here on out, I doubt that the lines on a paper our going to do me much good. "If anyone's listening, I could really use some help."

I sigh, feeling my shoulders sag.


	7. A cry for help accepted

Chapter Seven;

A cry for help accepted

"What kind of help would you like?" I look up sharply at the boy floating in front of me. I swear that he wasn't there just a second ago. He smiles at me, something familiar in the blue-violet of his eyes. He's wearing a hooded sweatshirt, and jogging pants, so this isn't one of the hundred-year-old ghosts that hang around this place."

His smile is friendly, so I try to smile in response. It comes out, weak and forced, but a smile nonetheless. "At this time, just about any kind of help would be good. Within reason." 

"What's reasonable?" He squats down in front of me, rolling onto the balls of his feet in midair. His hair is a short, spiky blue mess. "I think that most of this is beyond that limit already. Would saving Ken from a demon have been reasonable yesterday?" He raises an eyebrow teasingly, and it niggles at something in the corner of my mind.

I shake my head, trying to get it back on straight. Checking this ghost out will not help me save Ken. Of course, talking to him may not help, either, but I have to do something. "Not really. Yesterday, I would have denied that I could have gotten dragged to a haunted house to begin with."

"And yet, here you are." It was a simple statement, said in even tones. I shrug. He looks away from me, and back at the dark tower behind him. I follow his gaze to the windo, fifteen feet above us. "I'm Sam, by the way."

I look back down to meet his gaze, and then it hits me. Sam! Sam Ichijouji, the original prodigy of the family, deceased for several years. "Ken's brother." He nods, smiling back at me as I grin in understanding. "Then you can help me, where as the others are stuck here because of the demon!"

"Very good! He has some form of control over them, because he trapped their souls here. I died away from here, so I'm free to do whatever I want."

"Good." I rise to my feet, and he stands with me. "Now tell me what to do. I'm completely clueless. There's no way into the tower without something to climb, like a rope, or a ladder." He pauses for a moment, then looks from me, to the tower. His sudden grin tells me that he has a plan. "What?"

"See that dark spot, about three feet from the edge of the roof, and the tower wall?" He points at a spot on the left side, diameter approximately four feet. I nod, waiting expectantly. "Run at it, and jump through."

"What?" I can feel the nausea starting again, this time bringing a headache with it. "You expect me to go running at a spot on the wall, with the intent of running myself into it? I could slip, and fall -splat- on the ground, or just get a concussion, and die up here."

He looks at me with impatience. "Or you could go through the part of the wall that's been weakened by water damage, and enter the tower that way." He rolls is eyes, and walks away. "I can't believe that you're the one sent to save my brother."

I glare at his back, but it's as weak as my earlier grin was. He's right. I'm a coward. After all this time, and everything I've been through, I can't charge a wall. 

"I am but a shadow, acting like I live." Sam's facing me again, sorrow on his face. "My brother's life rests in your hands. He can't do this alone. It's not his turn to die, Matt. He needs you. And maybe you need him, too. I know that you can do this. I've been watching you for a while, Ishida. You are strong enough, if you believe. I know my brother does."

Pep-talks from ghosts. I must really be slipping. I hadn't realized how weak I had let myself become. I'm still the same person that would have risked my life for TK. Why should I risk less for Ken? I square my shoulders, and push off, running as fast as I can toward that dark spot, and hoping like hell that it is indeed weakened.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

"That must have hurt." I crack my eyes open, meeting Sam's gaze in the dim light from the hole I made in the wall. "Even weakened wood can give a good fight. Sorry." He's floating over me, looking at me uncertainly.

I grunt=, then set up, groaning as the pain in my head reachs a crescendo. When I can tamp it down, I look at him warily. "No, you're not. I'm this much closer to saving your brother. I have no doubt that this pleases you immensely." He frowns at me slightly, then gives a small, acknowledging smile. I stand up, using the bannister post that stopped my descent to the floor below to pull myself up.

"I wish that you could have seen it. It looked like something that Davis would have done. I think you took more of it with your head than your shoulders." I don't find it that amusing. If the banister hadn't been sturdy, I would have fallen to the bottom of the tower, and this whole thing would have been pointless.

I raise an eyebrow. "I'm paying for it, too." His smile is sympathetic. "Which way? Down?" He looks at me, then at the well of darkness that swallows the stairs as they wind down. He nods. "Great, thanks."

I don't think that I like Sam. He could end up getting on my nerves very quickly. My hand gripping the railing, I start slowly down, feeling carefully with my feet in case there's a step missing. After a minute, the light from the hole is hidden by a flight of stairs, yet I keep going. Unseeing. I think that Sam is someplace nearby, but he isn't speaking, and obviously, he doesn't make a sound as he walks.

However, I don't speak, for fear that something else might hear my voice, and come to investigate. Cowardice, again, I know. I'm so glad that Tai isn't here. He'd get a kick out of my frightened attitude. "_Call to me, sing to me/Whisper my name/Yell to me, scream for me/A mumble the same_."

Sam's voice breaks through the black, slightly on my left, which would place him in the dead space at the center of the tower. "Another part of the poem?" I know the rhythm and the cadence. One of the styles of poems they teach grade-schoolers, because the rhymes are easy to come up with.

      "_I would love for love_

_      Hate for love_

_      Marry and procreate for love_."

My voice echoes in the silence, and it takes me a moment to realize that those words actually came out of my mouth. I pause, a little frightened to think that my vocalizations are ten steps ahead of my logical thought. I'm not a very logical person all the time, like Izzy, but I do like clear and precise order.

I go to step down, but my foot stubs against the ground, and I realize that I've reached the bottom level. "Sam?" Silence. I wait for a moment, then start searching along one wall for the door. Ten seconds later, I stumble as my feet hit the stairs, and I trip. I'm sprawled across the floor at the base of a tower, with no door. "Great."

I put my hands against the chilly, wood floor, intent on standing up. And then the floor drops out from beneath me, and I'm falling through cool air, the echo of my yell dying quickly.


	8. Interlude One

Interlude One :

Inside the mind of a genius/switching POV

_I can feel the darkness around me, it's presence almost tangible. Somewhere evil lurks in the blackness that enshrouds me, something that causes me to feel something I haven't felt in a long time: hate._

_I hate the darkness that encroaches even when my eyes are closed. I hate this creature that circles insistently, as if I were its prey. I hate the fact that I'm trapped, and I can't move my arms to try to break my bindings. Worse of all, I hate knowing that it's real._

_When Matt and I were looking in that bedroom, I began to feel a chill. To ward it off, I started talking about anything, just to fill the void that I could feel creeping up on me. My body turned to ice when I realized that I had told him about going out with Davis. I know it's a lie, and so does my best friend, but the pain on Matt's face was too real._

_I hurt him, and I hate myself for that, too. It's not fair. My life has been really great lately. Davis and I are closer than ever, now that he's finally fallen in love and given up on the crush he once had on me. Matt kept looking wistful and happy when we met, more specifically when he realized that I was there._

_And I screwed that up by fabricating a non-existent relationship with Davis. There are days when I begin to wonder about my own mental stability._

_After I told Matt that, he withdrew into himself, and I attributed the ice running through me to the pain I was causing us both. It wasn't until we stepped out of that room, and whatever protection that it offered, that I felt my body slip out of my control. It took over, this dark thing that has become a predator to me, and it ran away with my body._

_Other than the hate, I feel rather numb. There's no real pain or remorse, no fear or loss from knowing I may never see my friends again. I feel nothing, and I wonder why that doesn't scare me._

_Cold touches my skin, and I jerk back instinctively, recoiling into myself. The darkness laughs, drawing back. It reminds me of Owikawa, sitting in the back of the semi with those children, his cool hands reaching for the seed planted in my neck. I shiver involuntarily, remembering the evil that I fought with._

_Where's Davis to pull me out? He'll come for me, if he can. I know that someone will. Maybe even Matt. If he can, I know he'll come for me. Matt or Davis. I don't know how long it will take, but someone will come for me. They are my friends._

_This darkness is really starting to piss me off._


	9. Strangers in a dark hole

Chapter Eight:

Strangers in a dark hole

I don't remember hitting bottom, but there is solid earth beneath me. The air is humid, like some mildly tropical breeze. I'm lying on the floor, which would indicate that I did fall, right? 

I don't know anymore. I'm probably dead, and this is some mild for of my personal hell. At any moment, I expect to see flashes of Ken, my Ken, kissing Davis, or TK, or anybody else. That would definitely complete my hell. 

But, no. Now I get to stand here, entirely confused, annoyed, and pissed, as the wind blows warmly around me. I really wish that those in charge of fate and destiny would get their acts together, and give me a hint. As if the day wasn't confusing before, I've fallen through the tower floor, and ended up in some deep pit. 

I wonder if there are snakes? I'm not really scared of snakes, except for the poisonous ones. With my luck, I'm probably in a nest of them. Hooray. Of course, lying here on the ground is probably not the wisest option if I'm in a pit of killer snakes.

I push myself to my feet, feeling the dry dirt rub into my palms. I'm not hurt, as far as I can tell. In fact, I feel like I just woke up from some freaky dream. My hands don't hurt, though I know I rubbed them raw on the roof. My torso feels fine, though there was blood dripping from it to my pants earlier. If I was dreaming, now would be a good time to have Tai come jumping into my bed, throwing pillows at my head like he always does.

He won't, of course. He's waiting for me in the house. Upstairs, or downstairs, or whereever he is. They're sitting impatiently with Lisa, and maybe Danaria, while I try to save Ken. I sigh, thinking of him. I'm not giving up, but I really don't know how I'm supposed to do anything, stuck in the bottom of a hole.

**_Walking would probably be an idea_**_. _ I look up sharply. Somebody just spoke. 

"Hello?" I know it's a stupid thing to say, but no one ever claimed that I was a genius. "Someone there?"

**_Of course. Do you often hear no one speak?_** Ha, ha. Funny. Now I'm hearing sarcastic voices with an English accent. **_Quit whining, and walk this way. _**What way?

A beam of light appears ahead of me, illuminating the shape of a young man, maybe twenty-five years old. He's holding a torch in one hand. "Hello."

**_Hello, Ishida. Follow, please._** As if I have a choice. I follow him, watching his brown hair as it sways against the nape of his neck. He looks kind of like Ken and Sam, but with darker hair and skin. He could pass as a relation. **_Stop thinking so much. You're giving me a headache._**

"Stop reading my thoughts, and they wouldn't bother you." Okay, I did not just say that. He turns to glare at me with gray eyes, the hand holding the fire reached out toward me. "Hey, if the thought fits, deal with it."

**_Ishida Yamato, you are an interesting person. I thought that telepathy would add one more item to your roster of things to whine about._**

"You're funny. All in all, it's fitting. I'm assuming that you're either here to help me, stop me, or tell me what to do, right?" He smiles, turning back around to lead me again. We're going through some earthen tunnels, probably built under the house. The walls are rough dirt, packed tightly to allow us ample walking space. "Where are we going?"

**_The next part of your challenge will determine whether you and your friend live_**. That's nice. **_Of course, it doesn't entirely depend upon you._**

The little bastard is putting me in my place! Oops. Sorry. You can stop glaring at me now. "I said I was sorry!"

**_We're here. Be thankful that I'm forgiving._** He's led me into a wide cavern, the sod ceiling nearly ten feet over my head. There are torches lining the walls, as if others met in this place regularly. In front of me, I can see a desk and chair, behind which sits another man, this one older than my guide.

"Ishida Yamato, known to his friends as Matt, seeker of Kindness, holder of Friendship. Step forward." I do so, obeying the authority in that deep voice easily. He looks up, a middle-aged man of maybe forty, if not older. "Welcome, Matt. Please, come here."

He's wearing a business suit, like some CEO in a corporate headquarters. I walk forward bravely, imitating Tai's swagger. He smiles at me, his eyes kind, but hard. "Hello." I bow deeply, bending forward at the waist. "How may I help you, or how can you help me." The look he gives me indicates that he's surprised at my abrupt tone. 

"Straightforward enough. I'm glad to see that you have a backbone, son. You're going to need it." Thank you, that was very encouraging. "What would you do for love, Matt? You have let go of your fear and jumped. Hung out over a ledge that nearly gave out. You have decided to face a demon; all because you think you'll live if you do it. If you can save Ken, then the world will automatically right itself."

"And you're here to tell me that that isn't the case, right?" His smile is grim when his aged brown eyes meet mine. "I'll do whatever it takes. I'll save Ken, as soon as I figure out how."

"I thought you'd say that. Here lies the problem: a living man cannot cross into the lair of the demon. Only the dead and dying can cross the line. Would you die for your lover? Is he worth it to you?"

"Is that the next part of the puzzle?" He holds his hand out, palm up, opening his fingers as he does so. In the center of his palm lies a piece of paper, the bold writing on top familiar. I reach out slowly, taking it from him, and hold the paper up in front of me. 

      "Search for me, look for me,

      Give me a shout

      Ask for me, demand me

      Figure me out."

**_Pretty, isn't it?_** I turn to the raven-haired man, but he's facing away from me, walking around us in a circle as we talk. **_There's more._**

I look back at the paper, but the words have changed. 

      "Touch me, hold me

      Cradle me tight

      Lie for me, die for me

      Don't give up without a fight."

Is that what I have to do? Kill myself to save him? I've contemplated suicide: I won't deny that. But I decided to live, on the chance that I could find love in my life. I have great friends, and a wonderful family. After all my soul-searching, I have to let go of everything I've fought for and lived for, simply to have a chance to save Ken?

"It's a hard choice, one that we understand very well." I look up, meeting brown eyes. "You can turn back, you know. We can give you a choice. You can live, and we'll erase the memory of what has happened here today. Ken will stay where he is, but you will go on with life, oblivious to what is missing from it."

Go on with life without Ken, and not possibly know it? Hardly. In the past few years, I've settled my life into a routine that purposely seeks him out. He gives me something to succeed for, something to work toward. He is my goal, and ambition, and reason. He is my life. 

"Please, tell me what to do. I'll do anything. Poison, or hang myself, or whatever. Just tell me how to get to him." I can feel my throat clogging with emotion again, but I don't care. "I'd give my life for him, if you would tell me how."

They look at each other, a silent communication that I can't read. They nod, another silent signal. Gray eyes turn to me. **_Follow._** I look at the older man, but he's turned around in his chair, and faces the dirt wall. I follow the younger one, feeling the path beneath my feet becoming uneven. **_You have made your choice, now you must follow through with your decision._**

****

"How?" He doesn't have a torch this time, so I'm left to stumble in the dark, following the sound of his footsteps. 

      **_I would beg for love_**

**_      Give for love_**

**_      Live and let live for love._**

****

**_      I would kill for love_**

**_Greed for love_**

**_Cut my wrist and bleed for love._**

"That's very pretty, but that doesn't answer my question." 

****

**_You'll know when the time comes._** Know what? I am so confused. I'm on my way to be sacrificed, following some weird guy, no offense, through some messed up maze. **_No offense taken. You still talk too much._**

Thank you, friend, for pointing that out. I think that I like underground hermits as much as I like demons and freaky gatekeepers, and stupid people who can't live up to their promises. This whole day has definitely gone down hill fast.


	10. Interlude Two

Interlude Two:

Inside the mind of Kindness/switching pov again

_I hate the dark, I hate the dark, I hate the dark, I hate the dark, I hate the dark, I hate the dark, I hate the dark..._

_...And all the things in it. There's something, I know. I can feel it. The cold chill is creeping slowly toward me, around me. It's like some slimy rodent, slowly working its way nearer to the source of its new host. Actually, I guess that that makes it a parasite. Like some flea under the carefully guarded gaze of the dog. It's weary, uncertain. As if it knows that I know it's there._

_I hate the dark, the damp, damp dark. I hate the dark. And the blackness that surrounds me. It's familiar. I've been here before, felt this controlling chill, listened to the echo of silence as it moves without a sound. It's everywhere, this black cloud of cold, slowly circling, coming closer, drawing back. It's waiting for something. I think it's waiting for me._

_I'm not talking to it; I refuse to respond to the cool touches that lance at my arm. I don't retreat into myself, but stand straight in the dark. It won't intimidate me, won't control me. If it wants me for something, it's going to have to fight me every step of the way. I will not give in without a struggle. If it was looking for an easy prey, it has come to the wrong place._

_In this place where I am, it's cold. Like standing in the doorway on a winter morning, wearing no more than your pajamas. Or standing near the bottom of a waterfall, where the air is chilled. I can't feel my fingers, though I'm gripping my hands tightly together. My hair is damp, as if I've sweated a lot, or it's partially dry from a shower. It adds to the cold, making me uncomfortable._

_I hate the dark, I hate the dark, I hate the dark, I hate the dark..._

_I want to go home. I'll face up to all of my fears, tell Davis to just ask Takaishi out. Tell Matt how I really feel. I'll own up to all the things I keep hidden, all the things I've pushed away in denial. I'm ready to take the risks, if I can just find a way out._

_They'll come for me eventually. My friends will come for me. They would never abandon me, leave without me. They'll come, and I won't be alone in the dark._

_Because I hate the dark._


	11. To succeed, could be to fail

Chapter Nine :

To Succeed, could be to fail

"So, where exactly are we going?" I can't resist asking. I know that my guide is starting to get annoyed with me, but it's something that occupies my brain, besides the overwhelming urge to sit in a corner and cry. I refuse to think of all the things that could go wrong, though I can feel this little cloud of doom hanging over my head. 

**_I know, and I'm not telling_**_. _Great, my guide has turned into the annoying child from hell. At least I'm the one asking the annoying questions and not him. Of course, two can play at that game.

"Are we there, yet? Are we there, yet? I have to go to the bathroom. Timmy pushed me!" He turns to glare at me, and I laugh. I can't help it. He looks like Tai when he doesn't get his way, or Ken when someone steals the book he's reading.

Okay, bad idea. Thinking about Ken is a bad idea. I don't really need the constant reminder that I'm going to be a failure. Gray eyes flicker my way, and I'm caught in a disapproving stare. **_Are you already giving in?_** Of course not! I wouldn't give up. Ken needs me, and I'll be damned if some insecurity is going to get in my way of being a hero. **_What an interesting attitude change. _**Just don't get in my way, and we'll be okay, my friend.

The passage we're moving through is long and twisting, reminding me of one of those carnival houses, where the halls are made of mirrors, and they double back on each other constantly. I wouldn't be surprised if you could put a whole in the wall, and see that large chamber with the old guy. "What exactly am I supposed to do? I know that you said I'd know when I got there, but the suspense is killing me."

My guide turns and gives me an odd look, half-amused, and half sympathetic. I stop, an idea suddenly clicking in my head. He turns, and looks at me, his eyes knowing.

"That last line, the one you said before we started. That's the answer, isn't it?" I can feel the breath in my chest choking me, as if I inhaled a large amount of smoke. My head is slightly fuzzy, and I feel nauseated. "I know that I said I'd kill myself, but I didn't think that I'd actually be expected to do it myself. Dying is one thing, slitting my wrist is another."

**_It's one of the lines that coincides with both poems. They both speak of it, but in different ways. I would kill for love/ greed for love/ cut my wrist and bleed for love._**

****

With a trembling hand, I pull the poem out of my pocket, and stare at the newest verse that's appeared. "Breathe for me, bleed for me/ Beg for help from above/ Give for me build for me/ What would you do for love?."

**_And therein lies your answer. They doomed each other to eternity in this place because they were unwilling to allow themselves to believe in each other. They thought that their love would keep them safe from the trials of life, they didn't realize that it doesn't work that way. Love just means that you have to be willing to fight for it, and realizing that while love may not make the world a perfect place, it does make things a lot nicer._**

****

I said that they weren't strong enough, that Martin Pendragon didn't love her as much as they both though he did. Where exactly does that leave me? Ken doesn't even know that I love him, how could he? I've spent the past year stuffing down every instinct I had where he was concerned, hoping that he couldn't read my desire to jump him at every meeting. The whole point of this is to prove my love, and yet, I could still lose him to another person. He doesn't love me, probably isn't even really gay. The only thing I have is my hope. 

"Damn it, hope is my brother's thing, not mine! I'm friendship! Friends don't kill themselves for friends, they kill themselves for lovers, and that's Sora's thing!" Why the hell should I have to live up to everyone else's crest? 

**_Are you backing out? You can leave now. You can still go back without a memory of this. Your friend will be left here, but you won't feel the lack._**We've already had this discussion, thank you. I would feel the lack. I am not backing down. Give me the damn knife, or dagger, or blade, or whatever it is you want me to slit my wrists with, and let me have at it. **_You believe that you are ready? Are you certain?_**

****

"Does it matter? If I'm not ready now, I never will be. Ken needs me now. Not later, not tomorrow. So it has to be now." He looks at me, a silent respect in his gray eyes. "Let's do it."

He pulls an object out of the shadows, and it glints in the dim light of his torch. I take the hilt of the dagger he hands me, holding it up in front of me to stare at the blade. I have to admit, I have thought about suicide many times, but I've never actually gotten as far as holding onto the means of my destruction. 

**_Give for me, build for me/ What would you do for love?_**

****

For Ken? For love? I would do anything. 

With a deep breath, I press the tip of the blade against the vein of my wrist, and push down, hissing when my skin is pierced, closing my eyes against the sight of my blood pooling in the small depression made by the pressure of the knife. It burns as it trickles down my wrist, scorching a trail along my arms. It hurts, like a burn, and I can feel it tingle as my fingers start to lose some feeling in that hand. After a couple more seconds, my head feels kind of light, and I switch hands while I still can, puncturing the skin on the unmarked wrist, repeating the process.

My eyes are still shut, and the sound of the dagger hitting the floor is nothing more than a distant clanging sound as the world slips out from under my feet. I never feel my body hitting the ground.

****

****


	12. Interlude Three

Interlude three:

Inside the mind of insecurity/switching POV

_They're not coming. He's not coming. They probably don't even know that I'm gone. matt does. The fear and worry on his face had me aching to hold him. I bet he hasn't even found Tai and Davis yet. I can't have been down here that long. He hasn't found them, and they don't know, and that's why they haven't come yet._

_I am so cold. My hands are pink from the cold, and I would wager most of my money that my lips are blue. I'm shaking so badly that the sound of my teeth chattering has begun to echo. The thing in the shadows has kept away. It's still waiting, but I refuse to give in._

_Maybe they've decided taht I'm not worth it. I mean, Davis has TK, and Tai has Izzy. Matt can have anyone on the face of the planet that he wants. Why would he want me? With his looks and popularity, people of both genders flock to him. Why would he want some tarnished genius with a bad past? I'm glad that I won't be around to see him date someone else. I don't think that I could stand to watch._

_I started walking at some point in time, and I'm still managing to put one foot in front of the other. Each step is torture, and my toes are on the point of numbness. There's still a shroud of darkness, but the thing that's waiting for me has slipped away. I'm glad. It was starting to make me feel funny._

_I think, all in all, that I'll miss my friends. I won't see Matt's next concert, or Davis play in the city tournament. I'll miss graduation, and the final dances. No career, no marriage. At least I won't have to worry about ending up with some woman that I will never love. See, there's an up side to everything. I won't have to take my final exams, and I won't have to worry about the tests to get into college. I won't have to worry about failing or embarrassing myself._

_And I'll miss the blue of Matt's eyes, and the way Davis is always staring at Takaishi. I'll miss his wedding, and their first date. I'll never see my mother again, or have her worry about me again._

_I won't take this. I won't! My life is not going to be screwed up by some evil creature that hides itself in the shadows. I will not be beaten, I will not be taken advantage of! I've already been there once in this life. I will not be manipulated a second time. _

_Ichijouji Ken is his own master. He is in charge._


	13. Death isn't what I thought it'd be

Chapter ten:

Death isn't what I thought it would be

"Matt? Matt, please. Wake up. This isn't supposed to be this way. You have to move, you have to wake up." 

But it's so nice. Just this blankness, like that little spot between waking and dreaming. Comfortable, warm. Like floating in a warm pool.

"Ishida Yamato, he needs you. You need to wake up. This won't last. It will fade away when the demon has won. You only have a short time left. For both your sakes, you need to get up."

For both of us? I had the oddest dream. And yet, if it was a dream, why can't I feel my body? I can't feel my hands, and I can't open my eyes. All I see and feel is darkness and air. There doesn't seem to be an up or a down. He needs me. But who?

A light seems to be forming somewhere behind me. I can feel my shadow growing in front of me, as if that light is coming nearer. But who would be in this darkness, this pool of warmth formed by my own mind? Unless it's not my creation. He needs me.

Ken.

The name is like a mantra, bringing with it thoughts of violet and blue. Violet eyes, blue hair. Kindness and a whip. Ken. Kaizer. Friend. 

Lover?

"Matt, please get up." That voice is familiar. He was helping me. Not guiding me, that was someone else. He's important, and he was helping me. Why is he shaking me? How the hell can a ghost touch me?

My eyes fly open, or at least I think they're my eyes. Sam is looking down at me, his eyes worried, clouded over and making them a deep purple. "Ken?" He seems to wilt, and his lips curl slightly.

"He's okay, but we have to move. It's coming, and it's not happy that you've come this far. We have to move, we have to find Ken before it finds us." That makes sense. I move to stand up, but I'm already upright. At my feet lies a familiar lean body, lying face down in a pool of blood. "We don't have much time. We have to find him before your body dies."

"Where do we look?" He shrugs, and his voice is worried. He seems more substantial than he did last time I saw him.

"I don't know." He's looking around, his body trembling. 

"Sam." He looks at me, and I smile slightly. "You're a genius. Think of something." I want to clasp his shoulder, or shake some sense into him, but I can't feel my body to move it. Maybe I'm not even a ghost. If my body isn't dead yet, then I'm nothing more than a formless spirit. I don't even get to be a ghost.

"Well, if the demon is coming from that way, then it's safe to assume that Ken is that way, too. He'll have been guarding his prize." I nod, mentally, and try to turn around. The world spins, and I'm facing the other way, with Sam behind me. "Okay. Now can you move forward?"

Move? Of course I can. I'm Ishida, I can do anything. I try to move my feet, but nothing happens. What did I do to turn around? 

I thought about facing that way. I close my eyes, and picture myself travelling forward. "That's good. You're catching on quick, Matt. Too bad that the plan is to restore you to your body as soon as we find Ken."

"Is that all that's left? Finding Ken?" That almost seems too easy. 

"We still have to face the demon. And get you back into your body. And find our way out of here. And keep your body alive once your back inside. I don't think my brother would appreciate it if you died."

Why would he care? I'm simply saving his life. It doesn't mean that he loves me, it doesn't mean that he has to be with me for the rest of my life. For some odd reason, that thought doesn't hurt. 

"What are you thinking?" He stop in mid-movement, trying to find the reason behind the fear in his voice. "You have to trust in what you feel, Matt. If you start doubting what you're doing now, then you may as well go back to your body and watch it die."

The tunnel is dark again. That doesn't seem right, because just a minute ago, it was as bright as day. And when did it get so cold?

__

Matt.

That voice. I know it. Sam is saying something ,but his voice is more of a background noise. Another person is calling my name, and the sound of him speaking is sending shivers through my body. 

But why is it so cold?

__

Matt, my love.

Ken, I'm coming. With a great deal of effort, I start moving again. There's a little bit of light that seems to follow me, but it doesn't extend that far in front of me. Sam isn't behind me anymore, but I can still feel him calling to me. It doesn't matter, though, because I can see Ken.

He's waiting for me up ahead, his eyes glowing with the reflection of the light behind me, and he's smiling.

__

Hello, Matt. Thank you for coming for me, love. I've been waiting. I knew you'd come for me.

I want to smile as I near him. He's standing there in the half light, so beautiful. His hair is shining, and a slight breeze seems to be blowing it back from his face. 'It's coming, and it's not happy that you've come this far. We have to move, we have to find Ken before it finds us.'

What was Sam saying? Before I saw Ken, he was trying to tell me something. And why isn't he here?

__

My love, give me your hand. Come with me. I know the way out. It's behind me, but we have to hurry.

"No." He's reaching his hand toward me, but pauses when my response is ripped from my body. I think of moving backwards, and see the walls move as the distance between us increases. "You're not Ken."

He's not. He's smiling, with his lips, and he's watching me with his eyes, and he speaks with his voice, but it's not Ken. Ken wouldn't be waiting for me, he wouldn't be sitting still and waiting to be rescued. He'd be searching for his own way out, and he'd be thinking of a plan to fight the demon, not run in circles from it.

"Matt, come on!" Sam's voice. 

"You're not Ken."

__

Am I?

I force myself to turn, and see a boy wearing spandex, his cape blowing out behind him, his hair spiked and his eyes hidden by glasses. 

"Kaizer."

__

Am I? Am I the person that you were looking for? Pathetic loser, trying to find his lost love. Did you really think that you'd find the one you were looking for?

This doesn't feel right either. Ken isn't the Kaizer, but he isn't the quiet, timid person he was when he first returned to the world. The poem is done, it's gone, and yet a riddle still remains. The poems were only the beginning. What new challenge is coming?

"What do you want?" The Kaizer grins, the feral grin from my memory. He tilts his head back and laugh, a sound that sends a chill through my mind. 

__

I want a new toy. I'm tired of being Ichijouji Ken. He's so boring. He stopped being fun when he decided to be a wimp, and fight for the good guys. It takes a stronger person to fight for the wrong side, and win. That way, you know that you can defeat any obstacle that comes your way.

Only until a new enemy comes along. "You can't win. The Kaizer never won."

__

But I didn't lose, did I? I just changed form, and hid with my enemies. You were all so pathetic. A little hesitant, but believing when I helped you save the world. You wouldn't know the truth if it hit you in the head.

****

Assuming you know me.

That, too, is Ken's voice. But it brings a sense of warmth, of truth. So, the Kaiser isn't Ken, and neither is the patient boy behind me. What is the truth.

**__**

What is my name?

Ken. Not Kaizer. Ken, not Ichijouji. 

**__**

Thinking you own me.

I know this one. It's the lyrics to one of my songs. But it's a verse I never finished. There was never a last line. 

__

Who am I?

"Matt, you have to hurry. It's almost too late. You have to decide!" I'm trying, Sam. Really I am. This is so confusing. What is the point of this?

Why my words? I look at the Kaizer, and see Ken materialize behind him, the Ken from before, not my Ken. He's wearing the gray Tamachi uniform. I can't believe that I didn't realize that before. The genius and the Kaizer, the two best known features of Ken. The things that seemed to classify him.

**__**

Assuming you know me.

What do I know of Ken? He's beautiful. He's kind.

**__**

What is my name?

But there's more to him than that. He likes to play practical jokes, but he never takes them too far. He likes to kid Davis, but he doesn't do it meanly. He enjoys helping people, but he doesn't do it to the point that he puts his own needs in dead last. 

**__**

Thinking you own me.

He's not sweet, and innocent. But he's not evil, either. He's not Ichijouji, the genius, and he's not the Kaizer. And yet, he was. It's not as if he was a different person. The Kaizer still exists inside of him. It's a part of him, just as all the things he's gone through are a part of him.

"I won't play this game."

They both glare at me, and then I'm falling. The wind rushes up to greet me, pulling my shirt up, making the hem of my pants cut into the back of my legs in a whipping motion. I'm falling in darkness, and there is nothing there to catch me. I'm not going to wake up, this time. 

"Matt, I'm so sorry. I thought we had more time. I'm so sorry."

I'm sorry, too, Sam. I'm so sorry that I couldn't save your brother and myself.

I love you, Ken, and everything that you are.


	14. Interlude Four

__

When did that light appear? I don't remember seeing it a moment ago. Interesting. Was that a voice?

"Hello?" Maybe that wasn't the smartest thing I could have done. Who knows what lies ahead, and I'm trying to call it out of the darkness. 

The light is growing brighter. Is this a chamber? And who is that?

****

Hello, Ken.

Okay, now I'm confused. Who are you?

****

My name is Okaba Dasaka. I'm a friend, if that helps at all.

Not really. Where am I?

****

You're in a place between worlds. This is a pathway that leads from the gate that the demon opened between our worlds when he drew the Moondragon woman through two centuries ago.

The legend. Is that what this whole thing is about? That makes sense, but it's still rather stupid. I take it that I'm supposed to be the bride?

****

Yes. And your friend is the groom.

If you mean Davis, then I'm screwed. But you don't mean him, do you? Does that mean that Matt's ready to own up to his feelings?

****

You don't seem surprised that he cares for you.

I'm not, not really. I've known, but Davis asked me to wait, just in case he needed to use me to make TK jealous. Now, I wish I hadn't. 

****

So do we. If he knew that you cared for him, this test would have been that much easier on him. As it is, he's been forced to face several of his fears, as well as the demon. Let me assure you that our enemy is most displeased by how far your young lover has gotten.

Where is Matt? Is he okay?

****

Not really. He slit his wrists almost twenty minutes ago, and his body is lying, nearly dead, about an eight of a mile down one of these tunnels.

What? That can't be. He loves me, and I love him. This demon can't beat us!

****

If his love isn't strong enough…

Bullshit! I know Matt. The only thing he has some days is the strength of his emotions. He loves me, and he can't fail. He won't fail. I don't know what kind of tricks that demon is pulling, but he won't win. If I have to kill the thing myself, I will. 

****

Brave words, my young friend. Brave words indeed. 

You won't scare me. I know the secret. Matt was right. That man wasn't strong enough to save the woman he loved by loving her beyond anything else. 

****

Is that all there is to it? Did the test only lie with him?

Or were they both tested? That's a good question. In that time, she wouldn't have been expected to fight for him, or go through half of what he did. The only thing she would have had to do was keep her faith in him. All she had to do was trust that he'd come for her, that he loved her enough.

Why are smiling?


	15. Starting at the end, and ending in the m...

Chapter eleven:

Starting at the end, and ending in the middle

I don't remember hitting bottom, but there is solid earth beneath me. The air is humid, like some mildly tropical breeze. I'm lying on the floor, which would indicate that I did fall, right? 

I don't know anymore. I'm probably dead, and this is some mild for of my personal hell. At any moment, I expect to see flashes of Ken, my Ken, kissing Davis, or TK, or anybody else. That would definitely complete my hell. 

But, no. Now I get to stand here, entirely confused, annoyed, and pissed, as the wind blows warmly around me. I really wish that those in charge of fate and destiny would get their acts together, and give me a hint. As if the day wasn't confusing before, I've fallen through the tower floor, and ended up in some deep pit. 

I wonder if there are snakes? I'm not really scared of snakes, except for the poisonous ones. With my luck, I'm probably in a nest of them. Hooray. Of course, lying here on the ground is probably not the wisest option if I'm in a pit of killer snakes.

I push myself to my feet, feeling the dry dirt rub into my palms. I'm not hurt, as far as I can tell. In fact, I feel like I just woke up from some freaky dream. My hands don't hurt, though I know I rubbed them raw on the roof. My torso feels fine, though there was blood dripping from it to my pants earlier. If I was dreaming, now would be a good time to have Tai come jumping into my bed, throwing pillows at my head like he always does.

He won't, of course. He's waiting for me in the house. Upstairs, or downstairs, or whereever he is. They're sitting impatiently with Lisa, and maybe Danaria, while I try to save Ken. I sigh, thinking of him. I'm not giving up, but I really don't know how I'm supposed to do anything, stuck in the bottom of a hole.

**__**

Walking would probably be an idea. I look up sharply. Somebody just spoke. 

"Hello?" I know it's a stupid thing to say, but no one ever claimed that I was a genius. "Someone there?"

**__**

Of course. Do you often hear no one speak? Ha, ha. Funny. Now I'm hearing sarcastic voices with an English accent. **_Quit whining, and walk this way. _**What way?

A beam of light appears ahead of me, illuminating the shape of a young man, maybe twenty-five years old. He's holding a torch in one hand. "Hello."

**__**

Hello, Ishida. Follow, please. As if I have a choice. I follow him, watching his brown hair as it sways against the nape of his neck. He looks kind of like Ken and Sam, but with darker hair and skin. He could pass as a relation. **_Stop thinking so much. You're giving me a headache._**

"Stop reading my thoughts, and they wouldn't bother you." Okay, I did not just say that. He turns to glare at me with gray eyes, the hand holding the fire reached out toward me. "Hey, if the thought fits, deal with it."

**__**

Ishida Yamato, you are an interesting person. I thought that telepathy would add one more item to your roster of things to whine about.

"You're funny. All in all, it's fitting. I'm assuming that you're either here to help me, stop me, or tell me what to do, right?" He smiles, turning back around to lead me again. We're going through some earthen tunnels, probably built under the house. The walls are rough dirt, packed tightly to allow us ample walking space. "Where are we going?"

**__**

The next part of your challenge will determine whether you and your friend live. That's nice. **_Of course, it doesn't entirely depend upon you._**

The little bastard is putting me in my place! Oops. Sorry. You can stop glaring at me now. "I said I was sorry!"

**__**

We're here. Be thankful that I'm forgiving. He's led me into a wide cavern, the sod ceiling nearly ten feet over my head. There are torches lining the walls, as if others met in this place regularly. In front of me, I can see a desk and chair, behind which sits another man, this one older than my guide.

"Ishida Yamato, known to his friends as Matt, seeker of Kindness, holder of Friendship. Step forward." I do so, obeying the authority in that deep voice easily. He looks up, a middle-aged man of maybe forty, if not older. "Welcome, Matt. Please, come here."

He's wearing a business suit, like some CEO in a corporate headquarters. I walk forward bravely, imitating Tai's swagger. He smiles at me, his eyes kind, but hard. "Hello." I bow deeply, bending forward at the waist. "How may I help you, or how can you help me." The look he gives me indicates that he's surprised at my abrupt tone. 

"Straightforward enough. I'm glad to see that you have a backbone, son. You're going to need it." Thank you, that was very encouraging. "What would you do for love, Matt? You have let go of your fear and jumped. Hung out over a ledge that nearly gave out. You have decided to face a demon; all because you think you'll live if you do it. If you can save Ken, then the world will automatically right itself."

"And you're here to tell me that that isn't the case, right?" His smile is grim when his aged brown eyes meet mine. "I'll do whatever it takes. I'll save Ken, as soon as I figure out how."

He turns away from me, and glances at the brunette. "Are you going to bring the other one here?"

**__**

Of course.

"You have to forgive Dasaka. He doesn't take well to strangers."

"That's nice. Anyway, can you help me find Ken? Or tell me what to do?" He grins, and I'm suddenly hit by a wave of déjà vu. Whoa.

"I take it that this feels familiar?" I look down, and stare at my body, and the flip my arms over quickly to stare at my wrists. There's a light pink line on each one, little scars from a dream that couldn't have been. 

"I died." This can't be heaven.

**__**

Why not?

The brunette returns, followed by a familiar blue-haired teen. "Matt." He smiles in pleased surprise and starts towards me. I wrap my arms around myself and back away, seeing his pleasure turn to shock and hurt. "What's the matter?"

I don't answer, feeling the wall press against my back as the tears start to pour down my face. I failed. I failed, and I've died, and now we're both dead. Forever. And then comes our sentencing. I failed, and we're both doomed to be puppets to the demon for the rest of forever. 

But I loved him. I did everything they asked of me. Everything. "Matt?"

"He doesn't understand, Ken. He doesn't realize that it's over." I look up, and glare at the old man.

"I understand perfectly. I did everything as I was supposed to! I can't have lost!" I look at Ken, and raise a trembling hand to his face. "I can't have failed you."

"You didn't. You're love was strong enough to face all the challenges they threw at you." He's smiling up at me, and his hand raised to gently caress my cheek. "I didn't fail you, either. I knew that you'd come."

I still don't understand, but the feel of him touching my face is real, and wonderful. The raw emotion staring at me from his eyes is starting to spread a warmth through my body. "I knew you."

"In all of my shapes, in all of my forms. I've already heard about what you went through, and I'm sorry."

With my hand on the side of his neck, I can see the scar on my wrist clearly. The pain of dying floats through my head, along with the fear that I've been pushing against the back of my head since this whole thing started. "Are we dead?" He shakes his head, smiling warmly at me. "Then don't be sorry. If we're both alive, and this is over, then it was worth it."

**__**

All of it?

I look up at the brunette, and think over that question. Would I die again? Would I face down a demon? Would I risk eternity to save Ken?

I smile down into violet eyes, and smile. "All of it."


	16. Life goes on

Chapter twelve:

Life goes on

"Ken!" I smile as Davis rushes forward, folding Ken into a hug. Ken grunts, surprise and happiness mingling on his face.

"Glad to see you, too, my friend." His thin arms wrap around the redhead, and I turn to my own best friend. Tai's watching me speculatively, as if trying to make sure that I'm still really me.

"From now on, we stay away from haunted houses, and anything to do with the occult." He smiles, relief draining most of the tension out of his body. "Seriously, though, Tai. This day has been really weird." Without a word, he hugs me, his grip squeezing the air from my lungs. I hug him back, glad to be back on ground level, glad that it's over.

"I'm glad to see that you've found your friends." I look up, and raise an eyebrow at Lisa Pendragon. She's wearing a slight smile. "For a while, I thought that it was a lost cause. We expected you back nearly three hours ago."

I look around for a clock but find none. Tai answers my unspoken question. "You guys have been gone for nearly seven hours." Ken's glance meets mine, and I shrug.

"I don't remember most of those hours. Between falling into another dimension and dying, I don't remember much of anything."

Tai and Davis both look at me, pulling back from Ken and I enough to give us room to grasp each others' hand. "I believe it. I was the demon in that pit for along while. I thought for a while that I'd lose my mind."

"You guys went through a lot, didn't you?" Tai's watching me, his gaze more serious than normal. 

I squeeze Ken's hand, and smile. "No offense, Tai, but I don't think I'd go through any of that willingly again." Ken squeezes my hand back, and we both know that he's the unspoken exception to that rule.

"Will you four be eating dinner here? Phinneas should be up in a couple of minutes, and I'm cooking a big meal." 

Davis looks at her oddly, then at us. "Personally, all, I don't think I want to stay here much longer." She smiles in understanding, and then leads the way out of the kitchen. 

"I didn't think you would." She opens the door for us, and lets Davis and Tai through, before putting a restraining hand on my arm. Since Ken's hand is still in mine, he stops also. "I think that you two should have these."

She hands us each a wrapped package, two rectangles that look and feel like picture frames. Then she pushes us gently through the archway, and shuts the door behind us. It's shadowy out, early evening. We quickly join our friends at the car, and get in, driving quickly, but carefully, around the drive, pass the gatehouse, and back towards the road.

"What is it?"

"It's the poems. The demand and the response."

"You guys going to keep them?" I look at Ken, watching as the moon reflects off of his hair.

"Yeah. Something to remind us that this really happened." He smiles at me, squeezing my hand to show that he understands. Of course, with the scars on my arm and the story we have now, I doubt either of us will forget this day for a long time to come.


End file.
